Online Books & Files

Approach to Christian Sculptureby Dom Hubert Van Zeller. Published in 1959. Produces an introduction, not only to Christian sculpture, but to a general Christian aesthetics. Gives guidelines such as art should not be confused with the sentimental, the gaudy or spectacular.

Art Through the Eyes of Faithby Russell Shaw. An interview with one of America's great modern Catholic sculptors on the state of religious art and architecture today. (from Our Sunday Visitor, 11 July 1999).

Decline and Renewal of Christian Artby Michael O'Brien . Why the disappearance of the Christian artist in seemingly benevolent states? Surely this phenomenon points to the deadening of spiritual faculties in any materialist society, including our own. It is a warning. If images of truth are to assist in the liberation and healing of man, the artist will inevitably confront forces which work to defeat the coming of God's kingdom.

Fire in Our Darkness: The Artist as Minister and Prophetby Michael O'Brien. Michael O'Brien explores what is necessary for the Christian art of today to be true to its subject. The lives of two great religious artists, Georges Rouault (1871-1958) and William Kurelek (1927-1977), have left us markers.

Historical Imagination and the Renewal of Cultureby Michael O'Brien. In this inspired survey of the history of art through the ages, Michael O'Brien shows how art and artists both reflect and inspire the religious sensibilities of their culture.